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Applying for a Fiance or Spouse Visa - A quick guide

At some point in your relationship you may feel that you want to be together in the UK, and will have the first big hurdle to overcome of getting a spouse or fiance visa. Well it can all be made a bit easier, knowing that all of the official information is on the internet to support you.
Of course you need to first decide whether you will marry in the the Philippines or the UK, but regardless the process for the visa is much the same.
Long before you apply for the visa you should be collating evidence to support the application. It will be your responsibility to prove that you have a genuine relationship with items such as photos, e-mails, chat logs, phone bills, evidence of trips to the Philippines/UK, reciepts from money transfers (including western union etc). Without enough evidence, there is a good chance your application will be refused.

How do I qualify to join my husband, wife or civil partner in the UK?
You must show that:

you are legally married to each other or are in a civil partnership recognised in the UK

your husband, wife or civil partner is present and settled in the UK (see the next section)

you both intend to live together permanently as husband and wife or as civil partners

you have met each other before

you can support yourselves and any dependants without any help from public funds

you have suitable accommodation, which is owned or lived in only by you and your household, and where you and your dependants can live without any help from public funds

your husband, wife or civil partner is not under 21, and

you are not under 21 at the date of arrival in the UK .

If your husband or wife has more than one wife or husband, only one will be allowed to join them in the UK.

At first, you will be allowed to stay and work in the UK for two years. Near the end of this time, if you are still married and intend to continue living together, you can apply to stay permanently in the UK.

One of the important points to take away from this is the 'no help from public funds', this means that if you are claiming benefits, then you fiance/spouse cannot be dependant on you. This is a point which can be very challenging to overcome.

Apply for the visa
When you apply for the visa, the application is firstly made online at the UK Border Agency website and is printed out. Then you need to schedule an appointment to submit the application and supporting documents at VFS in Makati, Manila. VFS is a private agency that processes the applications for the visas. This appointment is NOT an interview, it is simply where you attend to submit the documents and have you biometrics taken.
Your visa application will be sent to the British Embassy by VFS, where an Entry Clearance Officer will assess that the documents and evidence submitted meets its requirements for the issue of the visa. If they need more information, they may ask you to attend the British Embassy for an interview. Normally within a month you will receive a text message to collect your passport, and only once you have collected your passport from the Embassy will you know whether you have been granted the visa or not. If the visa has not been granted, this could be because you cannot show enough funds to support yourselves, or did not show enough evidence. You do have the opportunity to appeal, and that information will be given to you with a letter that explains why your application was rejected.

Read through your application again, checking for mistakes or inconsistancies. Check that you have all the documents and evidence as per the checklists. Have as much evidence as you can provide, it's better to have too much and them reject it. Organise the evidence into neat files, which make it easy to find information.

Have your sponsor write a good letter to the Embassy supporting your application, and outlining how long you have been together and important events and meetings between yourselves. He will also have provide copies of his passport and the stamped pages.

Attend the VFS Appointment and submit your documents, then wait for upto 30 days. Prepare yourself and consider what kind of questions might be asked should you be called for interview.

I hope this brief guide makes it a little easier for those people applying for visas, and makes it seem a little easier. The information is correct as of 2nd September 2010, but I'd recommend you always check and read the latest guidance on the VFS and UK Border Agency website to make sure that you have the correct information to hand.

You are so kind Ricky, thank you so much for sharing the details. You are a great help and will be forever grateful to your kindness

about 2/3rds of appeals are won purple
it would have been quicker if you appealed in the Phils, and asked the ECO manager at the embassy in Manila for reconsideration stating your reasons.
it will probably take longer appealing from the UK, as they will have to send paper work to the embassy.
but be prepared to be waiting upto 6 months

I have a question though if you don't mind... You mentioned that the visa could get denied due to not having enough funds to support yourselves... How much is the minimum amount of money do they want to see in the bank?

mmmab, impossible question to answer, as it isn't directly published. The ECO decision is based on all aspects, and if you met in all areas and could prove you would live sufficiently, and didn't have savings, then that would be fine as well.

I was thinking, as long as I can provide all the documents they are looking for, my fiance in the philippines shouldn't have any problems right.

But then I read on your post that they might deny it based on bank balance or something and that's why I asked the question... Apart from my bank balance and pay slips, can I also use my premium bonds to show as savings?

Sorry to be asking so many questions, I just want to get through this process without too many problems...

Hard evidence? If every month, they can see that may wages go to rent, food and bills and still see I have a couple hundred left for savings, would that be good evidence that I can support my fiance here, coz she can't work for 6months right... Also as support, if they see that I send her money every month, would they also count that as evidence that I can support her when she gets here?

Sorry to be asking so many questions, I just want to get through this process without too many problems...

Hard evidence? If every month, they can see that may wages go to rent, food and bills and still see I have a couple hundred left for savings, would that be good evidence that I can support my fiance here, coz she can't work for 6months right... Also as support, if they see that I send her money every month, would they also count that as evidence that I can support her when she gets here?

Thanks everyone for answering my questions, I really appreciate it!

There really isn't any actual amount stated in the 'immigration rules' that indicate
just how much is considered as 'sufficient'.

Basically, the UKBA will be looking at the amount of money left after any key fixed/regular
expenditure (such as rent or mortgage payments etc)
We all have different key fixed/regular outgoings.
(eg payments of Child support would also be considered a key fixed/regular payment)

Various Immigration Tribunal's have concluded that it would not be appropriate to have immigrant families existing on resources that were less than the 'Income Support
Level' for a British family of the same size. This is probably the best guide available.

In principle this means that if it is likely that the amount of money that the applicant and sponsor will have to live on would fall short of that available for a family of similar size from welfare benefits then the ECO may consider this as appropriate grounds for refusal.

The 'Income Support' rates I have managed to find are:-

Type of person....................Weekly amount (2010/2011)

Single - age under 25..............................51.85
Single - 25 or over..................................65.45
Lone Parent - under 18............................51.85
Lone Parent - 18 or over..........................65.45
Couple - both under 18............................51.85
Couple - 1 under 18, 1 aged 18 to 24........51.85
Couple - 1 under 18, 1 25 or over............ 65.45
Couple - both 18 or over........................102.75
Each dependent Child - up to 20 ..............57.57

There really isn't any actual amount stated in the 'immigration rules' that indicate
just how much is considered as 'sufficient'.

Basically, the UKBA will be looking at the amount of money left after any key fixed/regular
expenditure (such as rent or mortgage payments etc)
We all have different key fixed/regular outgoings.
(eg payments of Child support would also be considered a key fixed/regular payment)

Various Immigration Tribunal's have concluded that it would not be appropriate to have immigrant families existing on resources that were less than the 'Income Support
Level' for a British family of the same size. This is probably the best guide available.

In principle this means that if it is likely that the amount of money that the applicant and sponsor will have to live on would fall short of that available for a family of similar size from welfare benefits then the ECO may consider this as appropriate grounds for refusal.

The 'Income Support' rates I have managed to find are:-

Type of person....................Weekly amount (2010/2011)

Single - age under 25..............................51.85
Single - 25 or over..................................65.45
Lone Parent - under 18............................51.85
Lone Parent - 18 or over..........................65.45
Couple - both under 18............................51.85
Couple - 1 under 18, 1 aged 18 to 24........51.85
Couple - 1 under 18, 1 25 or over............ 65.45
Couple - both 18 or over........................102.75
Each dependent Child - up to 20 ..............57.57

First of all, thanks Terpe for all that info, I really appreciate big time!

Me and my mahal are a couple both over 18, so does that mean in principle, as long as I'm earning more than £102.75 a week, they shouldn't have any reason to refuse our application. Or is that the amount of money I should have left every week after paying for my food and rent and other expenses?

Thanks again in advance, again, sorry for the questions, hope you guys don't mind.

First of all, thanks Terpe for all that info, I really appreciate big time!

Me and my mahal are a couple both over 18, so does that mean in principle, as long as I'm earning more than £102.75 a week, they shouldn't have any reason to refuse our application. Or is that the amount of money I should have left every week after paying for my food and rent and other expenses?

Thanks again in advance, again, sorry for the questions, hope you guys don't mind.

That's the amount you should ideally have left each week after deduction of KEY
REGULAR payments. Means Rent/Mortgage, Council Tax if applicable etc. Means the expenses you MUST make legally. Does not include food, going out, clothing etc etc.

the figures Terpe has given is only a guide (but a good guide ), some people on benefits have got visa's, but you want to minimise the risks of refusal so you want at least that figure, you don't want any bank statements showing your over drawn and ideally you want your statements showing you have a £2,000+ in your account so your fiancée will not need 'recourse to public funds'

Thanks guys for all the info, it's starting to make sense to me now...

So ideally, after every week, I should have at least £102.75 left after paying for my rent right? Sorry for repeating, I'm slow like that at times, so my apologies in advance.

@joebloggs, the £2000+ is that a good amount to have in the bank when we apply for the visa? So in effect, as long as I don't owe anything to the banks and have savings of over £2000+ on the time of application for visa, that should be enough?

Divorce or Annulment

My fiancee has just been refused a Marriage Settlement Visa because her previous marriage has not been annuled - but she is divorced in a USA court.

I previously wrote in June 2010 to the UK Manila Visa Dept to ask them if divorce was acceptable or did a person have to be annuled - they said to submit the Divorce papers - so it seems that divorce as opposed to annulment is allowed !

Does anyone know the answer - does a person have to be annuled or is a final divorce allowed to get a UK Settlement Visa?